Toddler standing en pointe

[Sundance01]

My Granddaughter is nearly two and loves standing en pointe - balanced against a coffee table - I do not mean on tip toes but actually en pointe.

She has also started moving from this position to curling her toes under and standing on the top of her toes - the toes are in the opposite position to tip toe. She is now walking like this. She walks normally when doing something this is just something she does if watching TV or playing at the coffee table. She does it a couple of dozen times every day.

I am wondering if we should be discouraging this - her bones are still going to be soft and this does not seem like a good idea but I could be wrong? It could be completely harmless.

Has anyone ever been given clear medical advice from a physio or Dr about this?

[zsazsa468]

[namechange20050]

Why the biscuit?

[AyeAmarok]

Enrol her in the Royal School of Ballet

[SleepFreeZone]

Could you ask the HV?

[Trb17]

My DD is a dancer and they won't let them go en pointe until around 13 at her school as the bones are still growing and it may damage the growth plates. I would suggest a trip to GP or words with HV. And I would definitely discourage it.

[frazzled3ds]

It's probably worth asking the Health Visitor or GP about it, as if it continues she could well damage her feet. My youngest DS used to walk on tip toes a lot but grew out of it, although others I've known have had to have special shoes to stop them doing it. I did ballet for 10 years from age 6, and although I never danced en pointe, my feet have suffered, and will more than likely cause me some issues later in life with bunions, enlarged toe joints etc etc...... It's a lovely activity to do, and does wonders for fitness and poise, but it can cause problems too.

[CoraPirbright]

Crikey - never heard of this before but I cant imagine that its good for the feet at all. When you do ballet, it takes ages for the feet, leg muscles etc to become strong enough to start dancing en pointe (12/13 yrs when I did it although thinking may have changed now). Added to which, pointe shoes have really hard toe-cap-bits.

[Porpoiselife]

Does she do it because it is more comfortable for her? Children with DMD tend to walk on their toes alot to ease the calf muscles. It would be worth getting her to the doctor if that is the case. This usually affects boys but in rare cases girls can have it too.

Hopefully though, she just likes ballet.

[VladmirsPoutine]

Why the need for the biscuit? Genuine question?

[Floggingmolly]

Isn't walking on tiptoes a red flag for ASD?

[BishopBrennansArse]

Sounds hypermobile - might be worth getting her checked out by a physio.
Does she also w sit? By that I mean almost kneeling but with feet splayed out behind? That's another indicator.

[TheChineseChicken]

My DH used to walk around with his toes bent under apparently. He's fine now

[SuperRainbows]

This is definitely not good for her feet.

My dd had to wait until 13 to go en pointe. The dance teachers are so careful about their developing bones.

I think it is a habit she has got into. To break this I would put her in shoes while she is pottering around the house and hope she forgets about it. Not ideal, but she could really damage her feet.

[BishopBrennansArse]

Flogging toe walking can be an indicator of ASD but like many other indicators can also be present in isolation in NT children.

If there are other ASD indicators that may be worth getting checked.

It can also be an indicator of sensory processing disorder which can be present in both kids who have ASD and NT kids.

[LorLorr2]

Omg, I did this when I was little too! With the curled up toes. I got out of the habit before age 8 I think? I can't do it these days lol. It didn't do me any harm so nothing to worry about.

[TheCuriousOwl]

I was going to say hypermobility- it might be actually comfortable for her (it was for me when I was little, I used to stand en pointe in my Clarks sandals). It won't be brilliantly good for her but it might be worth getting a physio opinion just to make sure.

I think the biscuit is unnecessary and I therefore eat the biscuit.

[CasperGutman]

Definitely worth mentioning this to the health visitor and/or GP. It may be nothing - especially if she walks normally most of the time - but toe walking in toddlers can be associated with various problems (see www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-normal-for-my-toddler-to-walk-on-her-tiptoes_11648.bc). It's worth flagging this up in case it forms part of a pattern with other factors that need more investigation.

[MadameCholetsDirtySecret]

I did this - I have hyper mobility - most pronounced in my feet and wrists.

[Lucylanz]

I did this when I was young and saw a podiatrist. It was because my Achilles' tendon was short. I was given physio exercises and it sorted itself out. It is still my party trick!

[ppeatfruit]

Massage her feet and legs with a sweet smelling almond oil and a drop of lavender ess. oil, see if she likes it or if it hurts her anywhere. The problem with telling her NOT to do it is tht she may get obsessed with it.

Maybe tell her a story about a girl who hurt her feet because she did
this . I think I remember our GD doing this , it's experimentation. She's ok by the way.

[SmokingGun]

I would ask HV to see her, I used to walk like this and it's can be a symptom of Developmental Hip Dysplasia. Another sign is sitting with your knees forward but feet bent back behind you so like a M shape

[Olympiathequeen]

The biscuit is because a grandmother has dared to show interest interfere with her grandchild.

[Laiste]

I have hyper mobility and did ballet for years. 'Went up' at about 11 and found dancing en point really comfy, would happily walk around the house like it. (my party trick was to get up from being cross legged off the floor en point).

Never linked the ease of point work with the hyper mobility before.

[ppeatfruit]

Are your feet in a good condition Laiste ? I hated going onto pointe at 13 the pain of it put me right off ballet (that and discovering boys ).

[thethoughtfox]

A little girl at my dd gymnastics class did this and I heard the instructor mentioning to the mum that this was a sign of ASN. The mum was all flustered and not happy but said her dd was being tested for this.